When Phoebe was announced, a group of players decided that the time of the big alliances pushing the little guys around was over and without the threat of the big alliances’ force projection, smaller alliances would be able to take and hold sovereignty.
This group of players, rather than trying to take and hold sov solely for themselves, decided that they wanted to take over a station system in EvE Null Sec where anyone would be free to dock with the hopes of establishing a new trade hub. This space and station would be open to all pilots to earn income and hopefully to build a thriving community and economy with an eye towards future expansion into other systems.
I sat down with Iam Lynch, Military Director of Phoebe Freeport Republic and one of the founding members of Dutch East Querious Company;
Mail Lite > So, what were you doing before joining up with PFR/DEQC?
Iam Lynch > I was down in Catch shooting Provi with HEROMail Lite > What led you to join up with PFR?
Iam Lynch > I have had the opinion for a long time that it wasn’t CCP who ruined nullsec with Dominion sov, it was the players. Movements like PFR are needed to help promote the kind of small scale conflict that nullsec so badly needs right now, so I decided to pledge my support to themMail Lite > PFR took sov on the day of the patch, 4th Nov. Can you walk me through that? Were you there?
Iam Lynch > Yes, A few days prior to the 4th i noticed NA transferring all of their sov in PF/ER to a corp
Initially I was under the impression it was being transferred to Red Alliance due to some background checking however when it became apparent it was going to Absolution Alliance. We struck as we knew they were a new group not yet properly set up. We managed to kill their TCU and online our own in a mad dash. Some russians showed up however we managed to shoo them off thanks to the great numbers we pulledMail Lite > Was it just PFR that helped or did you have people from other alliances lending a hand? Was it a proper fleet or just random whatevs kitchen sink?
Iam Lynch > The main effort was led by PFR that night however we had Mostly Harmless round up a pair of Ishtar’s to come help us hit the TCU abit. Most Harmless was mostly preoccupied with their own sov attempt that night. We had a proper Moa fleet up.
Mail Lite > Well I am impressed. You’re the head FC for PFR?
Iam Lynch > Military Director yesMail Lite > Ok, so that was the 4th, what about today and the station? Can you walk me through what happened?
Iam Lynch > Sure After having WPV secured i began to scout out our next target We needed a station system as what is a freeport alliance without a port right?
Mail Lite > Exactly
Iam Lynch > Initially i thought about going after C-4 however after checking out both systems i found CT8 had PL SBUs online, I knew PL was deployed in the south that made it highly probable they would remain online I next locked up the station + IHUB and noticed they had all their armor missing this allowed us to completely skip the armor timer which was a huge help as grinding armor is not fun. The station/ihub had the armor missing thanks to CFC FCON invasion of ER in the halloween war imo
Mail Lite > From 2013?
Iam Lynch > YesMail Lite > Bonus for PFR
Iam Lynch > Once the timer was saved the shield would naturally rep up and Nulli Secunda were busy down south with stuff.
Mail Lite > Ok, so you found the target. What happened next?
Iam Lynch > We formed up Catalysts to hit the IHUB and put it into Shield Reinforcement. We did the same for the station however along the way several entities came along in small gang/solo to try and stop us. This delayed the process a lot however we all put in long hours and got it down. We waited for the RF time to come out which it did yday at 1330 and 2330 for the IHUB and Station
Mail Lite > How long did it take?
Iam Lynch > 7 or so hours, the fleet started at around 4 eve time and ended at about 11 eve time However in that time we also had to chase off several gangs + escort capitals
Mail Lite > Do you remember who those entities were?
Iam Lynch > The Serenity Initiative, So far Serenity has tried to oppose us at every single opportunity. We’ve also had F0RCED ENTRY and ROC. try to fuck with us. However we overcame them and continued on with our objective.Mail Lite > So you have the IHUB and Station come out of reinforced. Then what?
Iam Lynch > We formed up 50 players from PFR in fleet which was just astounding. We called upon friends to help including Ushra’Khan who have been awesome bros to us so far, and together we quickly killed the IHUB and flipped the Station. Serenity tried very hard to stop us with the station twice. Once when we were grinding and another when they tried to flip the station after we took it. However both times we managed to send them packing. We came in Moa/Scythe/Maulus with Ushra’Khan in bombers while Serenity had Aug navy/Maller/GuardianMail Lite > So you claimed the system today at around 1000 EvE time right?
Iam Lynch > It was just after downtime I believe. Funny story about the claiming- Once we flipped the station and high fived each other and went to bed, Serenity formed up a 20 man fleet to try and grind down the station. They tried to take our TCU out however it was on a deathstar POS and they couldn’t handle it. So they decided to hit the station instead as the TCU was still onlining.We did the math and so let them grind it. When the station was at 30% and they thought they were going to RF the station, the TCU onlined thus making the station invulnerable! Many laughs were had at them from the few guys we had online at that early hour
Mail Lite > Well, that went well for them then! Would you say PFR is mostly EU?
Iam Lynch > We have around a 60/40 split between EU/US imo, however we have a few more EU fcs, so that tends to lead to more content in EU
Mail Lite > So now you have your ‘freeport’ what is next? I’m guessing your on guard duty for now?
Iam Lynch > No! Were the crusaders content with just holding Antioch? No! They marched on and so shall we!
Mail Lite > So what is the plan? More stations in the same area or will you be looking to move to another region to create another free port?
Iam Lynch > We will continue to expand our holdings in ER. We’re currently looking to target several systems nearby which will hopefully fall under our control in the coming days. However we do not want to expand too quickly as POSes, moons, etc. need to be in place or this’ll all come crashing down.
Mail Lite > How is PFR managing to fund this? I know you’re charging for docking rights, which makes sense, but it must be a huge cost in POS and Fuel and Logistics…?
Iam Lynch > We’ve had several entities and individuals give us very generous amounts of isk and assets so far which has been a huge help. However we’ve also been taking moons off Pandemic Legion like Tech, Cadmium and what not.Mail Lite > Are you worried that PL might become a big issue in the future? I mean they are not far away, stationing in Curse. As the military commander for PFR, who do you see as your main opponents and what will be your major hurdles in the coming weeks?
Iam Lynch > PL are currently having blasts of fun by beating up the 4th grader, as a entity in kindergarten we feel we’ll have at least a few months before PL comes and punches us in the mouth. Curse is actually quite a long way away especially when you consider fatigue. Our main opponents at the moment are the Russians, Legion of xXDEATHXx and pets and of course Serenity. Our major Hurdles in the coming weeks will be better organising ourselves. Our movement is barely 2 weeks old and yet we already hold 2 systems and a station. We are trying to desperately keep up with all the things going on at the moment but as you can imagine a lot of strain is on the current leadership as so our major hurdle will be further delegating and making our organisation structure more effective over the coming weeks.Mail Lite > Fair enough. With regards to PFR and the PVP aspect, I am guessing that NRDS is in effect?
Iam Lynch > No
Mail Lite > No?
Iam Lynch > We currently run an NBSI system however we’re not dicks, if we see someone in a transport ship we don’t gank them just because we can. If we see an enemy fleet that is neut? We’ll engage however if we see a transport ship that is neut? we’ll probs let it go by. Eve doesn’t have to be toxic, we can make EvE whatever we want and we want to make EvE a place where you are not forced to be a dick to fit in.Phoebe Freeport Republic is exactly what it says on the tin. We are a group that is looking to exploit the changes that occurred in Phoebe and will continue to occur in the following expansions, to establish a smallish entity in nullsec, an independent entity. We will have a freeport system for all to dock in and will run a republic system of government and most importantly we’ll stand up to the big guy and tell him to bugger off!
Huge thanks to Ushra’Khan and the entire EvE community for showing such tremendous support for us so far. Every time I log on to reddit i see a thread up about us full of people cheering us on, it is truly inspiring.
If you are interested in learning more or supporting the Phoebe Freeport Republic, then join PhoebeCrusadeWarRoom in game channel and chat to the recruiters or diplos in the channel, they are all very nice and happy to help.
Reddit Post about the station being captured.
If you have anything that you think should be reported on EN24, please contact me at @mail_lite on Twitter, email at [email protected] or EvE Mail me in game.
